


wild love

by andromedagalaxy



Series: Philkas College Verse [7]
Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-16 05:39:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10564734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andromedagalaxy/pseuds/andromedagalaxy
Summary: Lukas gets some incentive during a study session, and he and Philip inadvertently miss something important.





	1. incentive

Lukas turns around in his seat to look out the window again, pressing his hand to the glass and groaning. 

“Lukas,” Philip says, from beside him. 

“It’s so sunny outside,” Lukas says, pressing his forehead against the window and closing his eyes. “We’ve been in here for a hundred years. A thousand.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Philip says, and Lukas pulls his chair closer to the table when he turns back around, letting it drag across the ground. Some of the other people in the library look up when he does it but Lukas doesn’t particularly care, resting his head on the table and groaning again. “Lukas,” Philip sighs, still not paying him any proper attention, looking back and forth between his book and his paper.

Lukas reaches over and grabs Philip’s knee under the table.

Philip shakes his head. “We need to pass this test,” he says. 

“I’m amazing at math,” Lukas mutters.

Philip snorts. “Don’t lie to my face.”

“I’m not looking at your face,” Lukas says, adjusting his forehead on the table and closing his eyes. “If I was looking at your face I’d be trying to kiss your face.”

“I know you want to pass this test.”

Lukas groans for a third time. “I want to treat this class like we do the renaissance art class,” he says. “Meaning, I write you notes and try to see how far I can slide my hand up your leg without the teacher noticing.”

“We need to figure out when that test is,” Philip says, vaguely. “And anyway, this is a core class. We have to pass this to get our associates’ degree.”

“I thought you wanted to pass all your classes,” Lukas mutters, listening to the girl a few tables away from them stab at her keyboard.

“Lukas,” Philip says, resting his hand on top of Lukas’s, which is still curved around his knee. He leans in, pressing a brief kiss to the spot by Lukas’s ear. Lukas shudders, like he always does when Philip puts his mouth there. He feels vulnerable sometimes, knowing that Philip has a very clear idea on how to take him apart. But there’s no safer place than home, and whenever he hears that word Philip’s face is the first thing to pop into his head.

“Yes?” Lukas asks, trying to sound innocent. He raises his head, giving him a wide, closed-mouth smile. 

“We’re in three classes together—”

“Yes.”

“—and this is the most important of the three,” Philip whispers. 

Lukas sighs, leaning in and resting his head on Philip’s shoulder. 

“If you try and deal with this study session until the library closes—”

“Oh my God,” Lukas says, wilting against him and sucking in a breath. “That’s two more hours. That’s four entire hours locked up in the library studying math and taxes.”

“I’m saying—I’ll make it worth your while tonight,” Philip whispers.

Lukas freezes. “Oh?”

“Oh yeah,” Philip whispers. “I promise. You in?”

Lukas can only fucking imagine what Philip is thinking, but everything he does is perfect, so Lukas straightens up and nods at him.

“Yeah?” Philip asks, grinning beautifully.

Lukas pulls his own book closer to him and sucks in a breath through his nose. “What study guide are you using?” he asks, clearing his throat. 

~

It’s dark when they leave and Lukas walks half slumped over towards the bike, the same goddamn math questions swirling around in his head over and over and over. He doesn’t even want to drive home but he tries to build himself up to it, sighing softly when Philip takes his backpack off him and puts it on himself. They put on their helmets and Philip gets on behind him, the two of them starting back home.

A few minutes later they’re pushing through the front door of their apartment, and once again Lukas can’t stop thinking about the test, all those fucking numbers and equations and set-up’s. He shuffles into their bedroom and collapses onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

“I can’t think properly,” Lukas says. “I’ve never concentrated that hard.”

“Mmhm,” Philip says, from the other room.

“I’m gonna ace that test for you and everybody else in the class,” Lukas says, his whole body tired, down to his bones. “We’re all going to ace it because of my vast knowledge. It’s gonna be seeping out of my pores and everybody’s gonna get a piece.”

“Oh yeah?” Philip calls. 

“Yeah,” Lukas says, closing his eyes. “What time is it?”

“A little after 8:30,” Philip says.

Lukas yawns, running his hands through his hair and closing his eyes. “Would it be weird to say that studying exhausted me? That I studied so hard that I exhausted myself and fell asleep by nine like an old man?”

“I guess you forgot our little deal,” Philip says, his voice closer now.

Lukas nearly gasps because he fucking did manage to forget, that’s how hard they goddamn studied in that hotbox of a library, and his eyes snap open when he sits up, just in time to see a half-naked Philip sinking down to his knees between Lukas’s legs.

Lukas’s heart is pounding in his ears. “Babe,” he says, straightening out and staring down at him, watching his deft fingers work to undo Lukas’s button and fly. “You don’t have—” he chuckles, his chest flushing. “You don’t have to reward me for studying—”

“I’m rewarding myself for dealing with your dramatics,” he says, smirking, his eyes flicking up to find Lukas’s. “Now lay back down.”

Lukas gapes at him for a moment and can’t really make himself do it, so Philip clicks his tongue, getting back to his feet. He’s only in his boxer-briefs and no matter how long they’re together, whenever Lukas sees him half-dressed like this he’s reminded of the first time. Before he can think any further Philip pushes him down, smiling as he starts pulling Lukas’s pants off. Lukas kicks them off the rest of the way and watches Philip kneel down again between his legs. Lukas is already getting hard just looking at him.

“I’m sad you forgot,” Philip whispers, kissing Lukas’s inner thigh, drawing his nose along an old scar.

Lukas trembles, his hand fisting in their comforter. “I did not forget, I never—ah—I never forget anything about you ever.”

“You were too tired—” Philip says, running his hand over the bulge in Lukas’s boxers.

Lukas bucks up into his palm. “Nope, no—just—studied so much—all for you—”

“All for me, huh?” Philip asks, and Lukas draws in a pinched breath when he feels him peel his boxers off, working them over his feet and throwing them in the pile with his pants.

“You, you, it’s—always—you.” Lukas moans as Philip takes him into his mouth, hot and wet and so goddamn familiar. Lukas arches his back and Philip hums, sucking and drawing him in deep, so deep that Lukas nearly hits the back of his throat. This day felt eons long but now they’ve made it here, Philip holding his hips down, brushing his thumbs in calming circles across Lukas’s skin. Goosebumps crop up everywhere and he shivers under Philip’s attention.

“God, baby,” Lukas groans, raking his hand through his own hair and bucking up into Philip’s mouth again. “Jesus, Jesus.” He gasps when Philip pulls back, licking up and down his length.

“God is right,” Philip says, his voice scratchy. “You look so good like this, Lukas. I love making you look like this.” He starts sucking on his cock again, faster this time, and Lukas feels like he’s flying, spinning, all the math cast aside like it’d never been there to begin with. Philip, Philip, only Philip, stuck at the front of his thoughts and his mind.

Philip’s lips slide along his dick and every time they do this it’s new, sending lightning through Lukas’s bloodstream, fire through his veins. He’d let Philip do anything to him. Anywhere, always, all the fucking time. He’d drop to his knees in supplication just for Philip to touch him again. It’s too strong, the way Philip makes him feel, the magnetic pull and desperate longing between them. And love, love so wild that Lukas can hardly look at him without wanting to hold his face in his hands and just revel in his beauty. 

“Oh fuck, Philip,” Lukas says, his voice breaking as he comes, and Philip pulls back, finishing him off with his hand. Lukas breathes hard and feels the bed shift as Philip flops down beside him, wiping his mouth before pressing a kiss to Lukas’s neck. “You didn’t need to do that,” Lukas says.

“Uh, yeah I did,” Philip says, running a hand across Lukas’s stomach as he ruts against his hip. “You were full out tax-man by the time we left the library. It was turning me on.”

Lukas snorts, shaking his head. “Tax-men turn you on?”

“You turn me on,” Philip says. “You’re cute when you concentrate. I’m surprised I was able to keep working today when you had that adorable focused look on your face the whole time.”

“I’m gonna be thinking about you during this entire test,” Lukas says, turning onto his side. “As if I’m ever thinking about anything else.”

“Don’t worry,” Philip whispers, breath hitching when Lukas reaches down to touch him through his underwear. “We can goof off in renaissance afterwards.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Lukas says, and Philip smiles against his mouth when Lukas leans in to kiss him.


	2. renaissance focus

They’re sitting in their usual seats at the back of the renaissance classroom, kids streaming in and talking amongst themselves. Philip stares down at his hand linked with Lukas’s on the desk, smiling as Lukas draws hearts with his thumbnail into Philip’s palm.

“I can’t believe you ate that crap,” Lukas says, shaking his head at him. 

“It was good,” Philip says, glaring at him. “You need to be more adventurous.”

“You need to not eat sushi at eight in the morning when there are perfectly good pancakes one station away from you,” Lukas says, raising his eyebrows at him.

“Don’t act like you didn’t try sushi the other day and sat there nodding the whole time because you liked it so much,” Philip says, squeezing his hand.

“I like it,” Lukas says, sitting back in his seat a little bit. “Just not at eight in the morning.” He sighs, watching more desks fill up. “The test yesterday wasn’t nearly as bad as we thought it would be.”

Philip snorts, smiling at him. “It wasn’t bad because we studied all day.”

“Yeah we did,” Lukas smirks. “We gonna do the same for this one?” he asks.

“Of course we are,” Philip says. He looks around at everybody and sees them flipping through papers, noses buried in their books. He narrows his eyes.

“What?” Lukas asks.

“Everybody’s acting weird,” Philip says. He leans forward, tapping the girl’s shoulder that’s sitting in front of him. She turns around and smiles. “Hey, uh—when’s the midterm for this class?”

As soon as the words leave his mouth everyone goes quiet, most of them turning around to look at him. The girl he asked looks horrified, his eyes wide and her lower lip quivering. “Uh,” she says. “It’s today.”

Philip’s heart drops. “What?”

“It’s today, uh—the midterm is today.”

A chill runs through him and all he can do is nod at her, not looking at all the other shocked and judgmental faces still turned in their direction.

“Oh my God,” Lukas whispers, still holding his hand. “Should we just leave?”

“You can’t make up midterms and finals if you don’t give notice ahead of time,” Philip says, hushed and horrified. “That I do remember.” He feels sick. He feels sick.

“Let’s say we got hit by a car,” Lukas whispers. 

“Both of us?” Philip asks, turning to look at him. 

“Yeah,” Lukas says, shrugging, his face serious.

“We’d need hospital papers,” Philip says, extracting his hand from Lukas’s and covering his face. “Oh my God, I can’t believe we did this. Oh my God.”

“Fuck,” Lukas whispers. He puts his hand on Philp’s shoulder. “Uh, uh—”

“There’s no getting out of it,” Philip says, tears stinging his eyes. “We just gotta—try, I guess? I don’t know. Oh God.” He feels like he’s gonna fucking throw up. They’re the biggest idiots in the entire world.

“Alright, everybody,” Miss Henderson’s voice says, as she storms into the room. “Books and guides away. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Lukas kisses his shoulder but Philip can barely concentrate. “It’s gonna be okay, baby.”

“It’s absolutely not going to be okay,” Philip says. He’s never not studied for a test in his whole life save for the time a goddamn lunatic was trying to _murder them_ , and he literally cannot believe this is happening. He feels like he’s gonna wake up from this nightmare any minute, and he pinches his arm until it’s red and nothing happens. “Oh my God,” he whispers, rubbing his eyes. 

There are still other kids looking at them and Philip just wants to fade away into the ether. 

“Baby—” Lukas starts, rubbing his arm, but Philip shakes his head as Miss Henderson starts passing out papers.

“Goddamnit,” Philip whispers, his heart hammering in his ears.

~

He tries to move as quickly as he can out of the classroom after the whole thing has fucking happened to him, but the weight of his horror and disappointment is keeping him from running away as fast as he’d like. He finishes before Lukas because he maybe knew four fucking questions out of the fifty, and even those he’s still unsure of. Lukas tries to grab his hand as he’s breezing out of the classroom but Philip doesn’t let him, pushing the door open and rushing towards the light of day.

He sits on the stairs out front and buries his face in his hands. He knows he has to tell Helen and Gabe because it’ll goddamn eat him alive, and part of him tells himself to wait until he gets the grade but he knows for sure that he failed the test, no if’s, and’s or but’s. There’s no salvaging it. He feels fucking sick about the whole thing. 

He feels like he's sitting out there for hours, days, ages until Lukas comes out, putting a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," Lukas says, and that's it. 

It almost makes Philip angrier. "Hey?" he asks, glaring up at him. "Hey, that's it? That's all you got?" 

Lukas laughs a little awkwardly, sitting down next to him but never taking his hand off his shoulder. "Uh...I don't really know what to say."

"How do you think you did?" Philip asks, raising his eyebrows.

Lukas shrugs. "Not good, probably."

"Probably," Philip says, shaking his head. "I failed it. No doubt about it. I failed a midterm." Saying it out loud solidifies the horror and he leans down, pressing his forehead to his knees. 

"Maybe we didn't...fail..." Lukas says, but Philip shakes his head. 

Philip huffs but doesn't look up. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up."

"Don't throw up."

"I have to call home," Philip says, trying to keep the tears back. "I have to tell them."

"Why?" Lukas asks, a little loud. "I'm not telling my dad, no way. We can just make up for it and they'll never have to know."

"It's not gonna be easy to make up for that," Philip says, sucking in a breath. "If I got a zero like I'm expecting—”

"You did not get a zero."

Philip looks at him again. "I didn't know anything, Lukas. I was so fucking freaked out that I was barely able to write my own name."

"You probably knew more than you thought," Lukas says, managing a smile. But it's so forced that Philip sees right through it.

"We never pay attention in there, Lukas," Philip says, shaking his head. "I didn't recognize anything because all I ever see in there is you."

Lukas smiles genuinely at that but Philip shakes his head again.

"I'm not trying to be romantic right now," he says, with a sigh.

Lukas leans in and kisses him on the cheek anyhow, nuzzling his nose there before kissing him again. "Don't call home."

"If I don't tell them right now it's gonna eat at me," Philip says, and he knows it will. He talks to them on the phone every other day and doesn't go a couple hours without texting them. He knows he won't be able to lie about this shit and be convincing, because every part of him is permeating with it right now. _Failure, failure, failure. You fucked up, Philip Shea, because you were too distracted by pretty blue eyes and wandering hands._

Lukas sighs. "Then call Gabe. He'll take it better than Helen will and he'll be able to break it to her better than you can, especially right now."

Philip nods his head, glancing up when a few more kids from their class come down the stairs and start walking down the street. A tear falls and Lukas wipes it away almost immediately, brushing his thumb across Philip's cheek. He scoots a little closer and wraps an arm around Philip’s middle, resting his chin on his shoulder. 

"Okay," Philip whispers, arching up a little to pull his phone out of his pocket. He leans into Lukas and scrolls down to Gabe's number. After two rings Philip is close to just hanging up, and he wishes he would have as soon as he hears Helen's voice answer.

"Hello?"

He's struck silent for a moment, his eyes darting to find Lukas's as he sinks into his panic. "Helen?" he asks, stupidly.

"Hey kid," she says. "Gabe's in the shower. You alright?"

"Uh," he says, a few more tears falling. He feels Lukas rubbing his back but not even that is settling him down right now. "Uh."

"Doesn't sound alright," she says.

He hiccups a little bit and squeezes his eyes shut. "Just—I'm sure you can hear the tears in my voice so—please—have mercy here—”

Lukas snorts and Philip shoots him a glare. 

"Okay..." Helen says, long and drawn out. "What's wrong?"

He explains the situation best as he can without outright saying that he's been distracted in class because he's been spending too much time flirting with Lukas. He knows that won't get him anywhere with her, considering they're fucking living together and can flirt outside of class or basically whenever the hell they want. She's eerily quiet the whole time, and the anxiety he felt during the test increases tenfold. 

"I just, uh—I wasn't prepared," he says. "We just got confused about the date."

"Uh-huh," she says. "Both of you?"

"Yeah," Philip says, his heart beating in his throat. "We got it mixed up with another class we're in together, we were sure—we were sure they were on the same day."

She's quiet again and Philip feels like sobbing. He knows they've been through some terrible shit in their lives but he hasn't ever felt this stupid before. Like he's truly and utterly to blame for his own idiocy. "You have to pay attention to this stuff, Philip," she says, finally.

"I know," he says, fast. "We were just being stupid. Which is typical, I guess."

"Do you think you'll be able to make up for it?" she asks.

He wants to say _I don't know_ and fucking cry, and he never would have thought when the two of them picked this class as one of their English credits that they'd be having this problem. "Um, I hope so," Philip says, finally. 

"I hope so too," Helen says. "Is Lukas with you?"

Philip looks at him and Lukas narrows his eyes. "Yeah," he says. 

"Can I speak to him?" 

"One sec," Philip says, and puts the phone on mute. "She wants to talk to you."

"Really?" Lukas asks, widening his eyes. "Why?"

"Why do you think?" Philip says. "Just—be apologetic about it. I tried to make us out to look better than we actually are."

"Okay," Lukas says, biting on his lower lip as Philip hands him the phone. He watches him press the unmute button like he's standing in front of a firing squad. "Hello, Helen?" he says, sweet as can be when he brings the phone to his ear. Philip watches his face change, watches him think about saying something else but being obviously cut off. He doesn't meet Philip's eyes and his mouth is open a little bit, and Philip can only imagine what Helen is saying. He hugs his knees up to his chest and can only watch.

"Okay," Lukas says, and waits for another second or two. "Yes. Okay. I will. Ok—okay. Okay, thank you. Here he is." He blows out a sigh as he hands Philip the phone, shaking his head.

"What was that?" Philip asks her.

"Nothing, just having a conversation,” she says. “I’ll let Gabe know what’s happening. You think there’s anything we can do?”

“Uh,” Philip falters. “If I think of anything I’ll let you know.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” she says. “Thanks for telling us.”

“Yeah,” Philip says, his shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me,” she says. “Just try to pay more attention, okay?”

“Yeah,” he says, with a sigh. “I will.”

“Talk to you later, kid,” she says.

“Bye.” He hangs up the phone and looks at Lukas. “What did she say to you?”

Lukas shrugs, though he still looks a little haunted. “Basically threatened my life,” he says. 

Philip raises his eyebrows. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Lukas says, blowing out a breath. “Come on, I’ll spare you the details. Let’s go get a milkshake somewhere.” He gets up, holding out his hand.

Philip takes it, letting Lukas pull him to his feet. “I don’t deserve a milkshake.”

Lukas wraps an arm around his middle, pressing a kiss to his temple. “You deserve eighteen milkshakes. And fries. And maybe a beer or two at home.”

Philip pouts, shaking his head.

~

They’re going to bed that night and Philip can’t stop thinking about it. He fills up his glass of water and pads back into the bedroom, vaguely seeing Lukas pulling back the sheets and the comforter. He puts his glass down on the coaster and turns the TV on low like they like it, picking out some old black and white thing that might be _I Love Lucy_. 

“Are you still going to the Met tomorrow?” Lukas asks.

“Uh,” Philip says, chewing on his lower lip. “I might go on Friday instead.”

“You should go,” Lukas says. “Don’t start that punishing yourself bullshit.”

Philip sighs, laying down and getting under the covers. He runs his hand over his eyes and has been fighting the urge to cry about it all day. The lights go out and then Philip can feel the bed dip. The warmth of Lukas’s body presses against him, urging him onto his side. Philip groans a little bit in protest but moves anyway, feeling Lukas slide up close as he can behind him and wrap an arm around his waist. 

“Stop,” Lukas whispers, kissing the spot below Philip’s ear.

“Stop what?” Philip asks, melting back into him. 

“Being upset,” Lukas says.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m just failing college,” Philip says, throwing a hand up and letting it come back down hard against the mattress.

Lukas immediately grabs it, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing it. He does it once, twice, over and over. “You’re not failing college, dummy,” he says. “We’ve got a couple other good weighted papers in there and the final. We’ll just—do good from here on out.”

“We’re gonna have to focus really hard,” Philip says, widening his eyes even though Lukas can’t see his face. “Like—maybe even sit on opposite sides of the classroom.”

Lukas hums, letting go of Philip’s hand and dragging him closer. “I don’t know about all that,” Lukas says, dragging his fingers along the hem of Philip’s shirt, pulling it up just a bit and skimming his fingers along his skin.

Philip sighs, closing his eyes in the darkness. 

“I love you,” Lukas whispers. “Don’t be upset.”

“Okay.”

“Nope, fake, false,” Lukas says, and he starts to tickle him. Philip writhes, bucking back into him and immediately bursting into laughter. “There we go, there we go—”

“Lukas!” Philip gasps, trying to wiggle away from him before Lukas draws him back again. “Oh my God, stop!”

“Can’t go to sleep mad, sorry!”

“Not mad!” Philip says, laughing. “Not mad, not mad!”

Lukas keeps going for a second more and then wraps both his arms around Philip, his mouth close to his ear. “Are you sure?”

Philip breathes hard but can’t help but smile. He shifts a little in Lukas’s arms until they’re face to face, and then he cups his cheek. Lukas leans in and kisses him, soft and sweet, so beautifully sure of every move he makes because he knows Philip like the back of his hand now. “Yeah,” Philip whispers, when Lukas pulls back. “I’m sure.”

Lukas nuzzles their noses together, all too briefly kissing him again. “Have amazing dreams all about me,” he says.

“I usually do,” Philip says, turning back onto his side again and feeling Lukas settle down close behind him. Philip closes his eyes. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Lukas says, kissing his cheek and letting out a soft breath.

~

He does go to the Met the next day after his classes and it does make him feel better, walking around and taking pictures of the art, taking pictures of the people. He’ll never get over the way New York makes him feel, and living here with Lukas is like am amplified version of his best life. He still wants to take a whole weekend and just go everywhere with him, take pictures of his favorite person in his favorite place. He’s considering having Lukas be the subject of his photography portfolio, but he hasn’t told him yet.

When he gets home Lukas is already there, and he smiles a little awkwardly when Philip comes inside. 

“What’s wrong?” Philip asks, shutting the door and putting his bag on the counter.

“So she just posted the grades, I was uh—waiting for you to look,” Lukas says, shifting a little on the couch.

Philip’s heart lurches. “Great,” he says, with a sigh. “I guess—let’s look at the same time.”

“Okay,” Lukas says. “Remember, it’s gonna be fine no matter what.”

Philip doesn’t answer him, logging into the website and clicking on the renaissance class link. He goes into grades and his throat goes tight when he sees it, tears stinging at his eyes. “Well,” he says, his voice breaking. “It’s not a zero.” He looks up, sees that Lukas is still staring at his phone. “I got a fucking 38%. I don’t even know how I managed that.”

Lukas is still staring at his phone, his brows furrowing.

“How bad is it?” Philip asks, walking over to him. “It can’t be worse than a 38.”

“Uh,” Lukas says, and he looks paler than usual.

“Lukas,” Philip says, laughing a little bit and sitting next to him. “What is it?” He slips his own phone into his pocket and grabs Lukas’s out of his hands. 

He sees the number in stark relief and he feels like he’s stepped into a goddamn alternate reality. A chill runs down his spine and he shakes his head. 

“Babe, I’m sorry. I didn’t meant to.”

Philip opens his mouth and closes it two or three times, he loses count. “An 83%,” he whispers. “You literally…you literally got what I got flipped.”

Lukas scoots forward and puts his hand on Philip’s knee. “I literally have no idea how. Sheer luck. Like absolute—God shining down—on me for some—for some reason—”

Philip can’t fucking believe it. “So,” he says. “We—mess around in that class, distract each other—don’t study at all, even in the slightest bit—miss the midterm and I fail it and you—you get a B.” He scoffs, shaking his head. “At least—at least you didn’t fail too.”

Lukas scoots forward and wraps his arms around him, burying his face in Philip’s neck. “I don’t know, I don’t know,” he mutters, kissing Philip’s collarbone. “Don’t hate me, I love you.”

“I don’t hate you,” Philip says, locking Lukas’s phone and putting it on the couch beside them. He clears his throat and knows he’s not hugging him back but he can barely goddamn move. “I’m just—in awe.”

“I’m in awe of you and how beautiful you are,” Lukas says, cupping his cheek and kissing his neck. “How you’re like—a sculpture. An amazing piece of sculpted art.”

“Don’t talk about art,” Philip says, closing his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Lukas whispers, kissing the hinge of Philip’s jaw. “I won’t talk to you in that class, I won’t even look at you in that class. You can focus so hard, you won’t even know I’m there.”

“Mhm,” Philip says, feeling like a complete and utter idiot. 

“I love you,” Lukas says, kissing Philip’s cheekbone.

“I love you too,” Philip says, but his exasperation shines through. 

“You don’t,” Lukas says, still kissing him. “Your hatred is radiating off you.”

“I need to go take a shower,” Philip says, extracting himself from Lukas’s arms. 

“Lemme take it with you,” Lukas says, getting up when Philip does and following him.

Philip looks over his shoulder and his cheeks color as soon as he sets eyes on him. “You don’t have to,” he says. 38 and 83. A 38 and an 83. He literally cannot believe it. He’s an idiot and Lukas is an art prodigy. 

“You don’t want me to?” Lukas asks, raising his eyebrows. 

“I’m really gross, I should do it alone,” Philip says, walking over to the bathroom. 

“Don’t shut the door,” Lukas yells, grabbing his hand. “I’m gonna sit outside and sing to you the whole time.”

Philip snorts, shaking his head.

“What do you wanna hear?” Lukas asks, tugging on his arm and not letting him go into the bathroom. “I can sing anything. Probably not well, but I can physically sing anything.”

“You should start dinner,” Philip says, meeting his eyes. 

“Yes,” Lukas says, nodding, still not letting go of his hand. “What do you want? I can literally make anything.”

Philip stares at him for a few moments. “You know you can’t make anything.”

“I can _attempt_ to make anything,” Lukas says. “Or I can go far and wide to get it for you.”

“Just make the grilled cheese like we said,” Philip says, nodding. 

“Want me to go get special cheese?” Lukas asks, stepping into the bathroom when Philip tries to move away. “Like…brie?”

Philip knows he’s not actually mad _at_ Lukas but he is mad at the situation, and he doesn’t particularly want to be completely enamored with Lukas right now while he’s feeling like this. But Lukas isn’t making it easy. “Is that the only fancy cheese you know?”

Lukas looks up at the ceiling and then back at Philip just as quick. “Muenster?”

Philip can’t help but smile. “The regular cheese is fine.”

“Okay,” Lukas says, tugging him closer and planting a kiss on his mouth. “I love you. Have a nice shower. You’re the best and my favorite.”

Philip nods and Lukas smiles wide, finally letting him go.

~

Philip stews in the shower and tries to reason with himself, tries to tell himself he’s not an idiot and maybe Lukas is just really good at remembering this stuff, or really good at guessing. He is glad Lukas is doing well. He’s just shocked at how goddamn well considering he didn’t think either one of them were paying any attention, like any attention at all. And neither one of them studied, yet Lukas still managed to get a B. Philip knows he’s got a really long way to climb to bring his grade back up, and he tries to get everything together in his mind for all of his classes. 

Lukas arranges their grilled cheese and tomato soup like he’s on one of those cooking shows and he actually breaks out that bottle of wine they got from the party a couple of weeks ago, taking Philip’s dishes when they’re done eating and letting him pick the movie for the night once they’re done with their homework.

“Do you still love me?” Lukas asks him when they’re in bed that night, his face close to Philip’s.

“Of course I do,” Philip says. 

“You’re like, strung so tight and I know it’s all because of this stupid-ass test,” Lukas says. “Like it doesn’t mean anything.”

“It does mean _something_ —”

“I mean between me and you,” Lukas says, his hand resting on Philip’s waist. “Like I know that’s entering your mind and it’s so far from the truth it isn’t even funny.”

“I know,” Philip says.

“Maybe I’m just associating all the art with you,” Lukas says, his expression bright. “Like your eyes are like the Mona Lisa’s.”

Philip snorts. “Oh my God.”

“Raphael could never paint anything as beautiful as you,” Lukas says, nuzzling their noses together. 

“Maybe you’re just retaining the information because you’re secretly a renaissance art enthusiast,” Philip says.

“Maybe,” Lukas says, surprisingly. He looks down for a moment and then meets Philip’s eyes again. “I’m gonna help you, okay?”

“Okay,” Philip says, closing his eyes again. He tries not to think about it. 

~

They don’t have any classes together the next day and he gets a message from Lukas when he’s heading to his speech class. 

_Babycakes, my favorite person in the entire universe, my last class got cancelled today, so I’m heading home. Gonna have a surprise for you when you get back. ___

__Philip can’t help but smile, shaking his head as he looks up, crossing the street. When he gets to the other side he lets a few people walk around him, leaning on the nearest light post. _What kind of surprise?_ he messages, and keeps walking, hearing his phone go off a minute or so later. _ _

___A good surprise._ _ _

__Philip tries to think about what the hell Lukas could be planning to get him out of this funk. He kinda feels like an asshole but he also feels like an idiot, and he can’t stop thinking about how hard it’s gonna be to fix his grade. He feels like it’s gonna fuck up everything else, all his other classes and his down time with Lukas, because he’s gonna be so focused on fixing this._ _

__He sighs, wishing he didn’t have two more classes today. He just wants to go see Lukas now._ _

__~_ _

__He nearly drops his keys later on that night when he’s trying to shove his way into the apartment, eager to see what the hell Lukas has waiting for him._ _

__As soon as he steps inside he can see it, and he’s ready to drop to the floor._ _

__There are renaissance paintings hung up everywhere, all over their apartment, with little pieces of paper tacked to them with bullet points of information in Lukas’s handwriting. There must be thirty or forty of them. There’s some weird food sitting on their dining room table, things that Philip doesn’t recognize and hasn’t ever seen before._ _

__And then Lukas himself walks out of the bedroom and Philip has to brace his hand on the wall so he doesn’t _actually_ drop to the floor._ _

__Lukas is dressed up in full out renaissance dress. He’s got a goddamn red tunic on that looks like velvet, a sword, a belt, a fluffy hat, long puffy sleeves. There’s a white collar around his neck that’s wilting down a little bit, and Philip can see him swallow when he looks too hard at him._ _

__“So, I look stupid—”_ _

__“No, you look adorable,” Philip says, and his voice is almost a squeak, he’s so fucking enamored and in love._ _

__Lukas adjusts his hat. “I only made the foods that took the least amount of time so they’d be ready when you got home. These people ate a lot of bread, like carb city—”_ _

__Philip wants to cry and he covers his eyes. “Oh my God,” he gasps, laughing and smiling so hard his face hurts._ _

__“I made something called a toastee, which is literally just cinnamon and stuff on toast,” Lukas says, and Philip sees him walking over when he looks up again. “And a bunch of crostini’s, which are more bread things, because—bread. Lots of bread. And I threw some chicken in there because I wanted to have some chicken. It works.”_ _

__Philip nods and he knows tears are falling now, but he doesn’t try to wipe them away._ _

__“So here’s the real game,” Lukas says, getting up close to him and taking his hands. “We’re gonna go through all of these paintings, which I used all of our ink on, and I’ll help you remember the details…and then I’m gonna quiz you.”_ _

__“Okay,” Philip says, grinning._ _

__“And every time you get something right, I’ll take off a piece of this ridiculous outfit,” Lukas says, rolling his eyes and swinging Philip’s arms back and forth._ _

__Philip’s eyes go wide. “So you could potentially be completely naked and surrounded by art and food?”_ _

__Lukas shrugs, nodding his head and smiling wide. “Yeah, if you do really good,” he says. “I got us macaroons too for later from that new sugar place.”_ _

__Philip’s heart is absolutely swelling and he steps forward, crashing their mouths together unceremoniously. He kisses him over and over, still clutching at his hands._ _

__“You like it, baby?” Lukas whispers against his lips, resting their foreheads together._ _

__“Lukas, I love it,” Philip says, his voice breaking. “It’s an amazing surprise, an amazing idea—you’re so fucking cute I can’t even stand it. I love this dorky outfit.”_ _

__“But you’re gonna like it more once it’s on the ground, right?” Lukas asks, cocking his head a little bit._ _

__“Oh yeah,” Philip says, kissing him again. He kisses him sweet and slow, trying to pour all of his love into it. He never would have expected this, but Lukas always manages to do the unexpected. The most perfect, wonderful, precious thing._ _

__“Thank you, Lukas,” he whispers, a moment later. “Thank you, thank you.”_ _


End file.
